Tidelands Overlook
+ Bay Trail

• Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA
• 2022
• CLIENT: Confidential

Perched on the edge of the bay, this technically complex site renovation project sits in a landscape defined by paradox: it straddles private and public land, has tenuous “terra firma” of settling bay fill and fluctuating tidal mudflats, and is a place where the most powerful influence on the landscape, the wind, is more audible than visible.

As the prime consultant, Mantle was commissioned to revitalize this on-structure overlook and Bay Trail landscape, providing management of a large design team, and leading the charge to obtain permits through complex jurisdictional entities such as BCDC (Bay Conservation and Development Commission). 

The design strengthens the property’s visual and physical connectivity to the bay and puts the powerful natural forces that define the ever-ebbing tidelands on display. Immersive, sculptural planters dominate the space, creating a dynamic foreground with a dancing meadow whose delicate blades and seasonal flowers register the strong winds that blast through the site. The planters slope up, at an angle similar to the airplanes that can be seen landing and taking off at SFO across the San Bruno Channel. As the meadow becomes eye-height, one’s perception is “lifted” off the ground plane, framing the sky.

The custom, parametrically designed screen at the southern terminus of the planters was strategically formed, perforated, and located in collaboration with CPP’s wind engineers. The screen successfully diffuses the strong winds, offering pockets of shelter for people to enjoy this south facing plaza year-round. The landscape terraces down to the Bay Trail with a sequence of gathering areas and amphitheater seating. Native plants create a naturalized edge creating habitat for the birds who reside on the mudflats, and aligns with the region’s larger ecological restoration goals.

Photo credits: Marion Brenner